Salt Block: A new way for seasoned entertainers to cook and serve.
Salt is the world’s oldest form of seasoning, long utilised for preserving and more recently used for enhancing flavour. Taste buds are biologically predisposed to be attracted to a salty taste and salt is accordingly recognised as one of the five basic human tastes.
Rich in calcium, sodium, iron, potassium and containing over 80 other minerals, Himalayan salt in particular has been accorded quite a few beneficial properties. However, the health benefits of salt are often overseen.
Good quality salt though, in recent years, has seen a surge in popularity and now it’s received a glamorous makeover into a show-stopping culinary centrepiece.
Salt blocks are one of the latest cookery trends, arriving just in time for summer dining. Although new to home kitchens, the art of grilling, chilling, searing and serving on a salt block is in fact an ancient tradition. Its versatility and durability means you can use it for both hot and cold cooking as well as using for serving canapes.
A stunning ‘gadget’ for the savvy cook, it reacts differently depending on the moisture, fat, sugar, starch and protein content of different foods, so it’s an interesting device to experiment on in the kitchen with both sweet and savoury dishes.
Seasoned to perfection…
Not only does the salt block look good, but it can be used for various methods too:
Serving – pop the block in the fridge overnight and use as a chilled serving platter.
Freezing – freeze the block for a couple of hours and use it to make instant ice cream.
Curing – fish, meat and vegetables can all be sandwiched between two salt blocks and cured. This is great way to make gravlax.
Grilling & searing – heat the block and brush with a little oil for searing and flash-frying steaks and scallops. Alternatively, you can use the block on the barbecue to compress food, such as butterfly chicken.
Purchase here; www.lakeland.co.uk